Family Matters
by Cow as White as Milk
Summary: It's not every day that you learn something like this, and with Roxy there is no exception.  A little Father's Day fic for y'all!


**Family Matters**

**Dedication**: This goes out to my dad and any other dads out there. It also goes out to those who have been adopted, and understand the blessings and hardships that can go along with that.

**Disclaimer**: I unfortunately do not own Hannah Montana. If I did I would prolly be driving a newer car.

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**Roxy sighed as she entered the Stewart house for the second time that night. They had just gotten done with dropping Lilly off at her house. The poor girl had slept against Robby's shoulder her entire way home. Apparently the first daughter had enough energy to wipe the usually charismatic girl dry. 

Letting out her stored breath, she once again gave her 'family' 'Roxy' hugs. She would never admit how much Miley's dismissal had hurt her. She loved that girl like a daughter, but did Miss 'Hannah Montana' feel the same way? Apparently not. Sure she had rejoiced at the fact that the young pop star would stoop to eating dog food for her, and she had felt joy when Miley had called her family, but the wound was still there.

Roxy couldn't blame them tough. What did they truly know about her after all? They knew that she was a fierce bodyguard, but did they know of her past? Did they know that she had been adopted as a baby? Did they know that her one fear was abandonment?

Sure she let her hugs with Robby Ray slide of as a joke, but truth be told, she just wasn't ready to let go of him yet. She would never be ready to lose any of them. Not Miley or Jackson and certainly not Robby. With his easy going attitude and Stewart-isms, he reminded her too much of her twin brother, God rest him.

Her brother's name had also been Robert, and at first she had thought it was just a horrible coincidence. Yet, it became increasingly clear the longer she was around Robby Ray that he was practically the walking, talking, older white-boy version of her Robert who had died when they were Miley's age.

Blinking a few times to push back the tears that threatened to fall she let go of Robby and smirked at Miley. The girl smiled back not even having a clue as to what horrible memories were trying to break Roxy's tough exterior. Instead, the older woman let her smirk slowly turn into a sad smile before she walked in the direction of the guest room that she often stayed in.

Robby Ray watched his daughters face as Roxy left the room. Contrary to popular belief, he was not a stupid man. He had mastered the art of reading people, well, all except one. Roxy had always been a mystery to him, but he had figured out early on in her career as Hannah's bodyguard that there were ways to read her. One of those ways was through Miley. For some strange reason, Miley was able to pick up on the other woman's feelings. Even if it was only a little. Or maybe it was just because Miley was the only one she would reveal them to. It was for this reason that he had kept his eye trained on his little girl. Her eyes couldn't hide anything.

As he had feared, the moment the other woman was out of the room Miley's eyes fell to the floor. She was worried.

"I'm really sorry, Dad," she said softly. "I didn't mean to offend Roxy. She seemed so depressed."

Robby Ray frowned down at her and opened his arms to embrace her. That was his girl. Always worried about the little things that she might not have any control over. He was sure that her words had hurt Roxy, but he was almost certain that they were not the reason for any depression that the other woman may have. Hell, he had not even figured Roxy for the depressed sort, but he could not deny that Miley had seen something in her.

"Hey, Bud," he whispered softly as he rubbed small circles on her back. "Try not to worry about it too much. Roxy is a strong lady, I'm sure she'll pull through."

Thankfully she took his words for truth and nodded against him. He could have sworn she had mumbled something that sounded like 'she like a puma' before she pulled out of his embrace. "I've got to go to bed," she informed him with an after thought of, "but first I need to brush my teeth. My breath smells rankier than one of Uncle Earl's taco farts on a warm day."

Robby Ray had thought about telling her that it wasn't that bad, but apparently dog food was not meant to be eaten in large quantities by humans. Denying that she did indeed smell that way would have been a lie, and lying was not a Stewart strong point. She would have seen right through him.

"Thanks Dad." She snarled, not happy with his lack of denial to her statement.

He held up his hands in self defense. "Be glad Jackson isn't here to sniff you out."

A horrified expression crossed her face and she bolted up to her room, leaving her father to chuckle at her antics before a frown once again pulled at his lips. Sighing he walked the path that Roxy had taken earlier, and stalled when he reached her door.

She was talking softly, but to who he was unsure and he felt slightly bad for listening in on her one sided conversation. Yet, he stood there anyway waiting for her to finish. It seemed unending. He knew the woman could talk, but she was also a wonderful listener. One thing was clear to him in that moment. She was not listening. There were no pauses. She was just talking to herself.

Sadness clenched at his gut. He too had from time to time talked to himself, usually when he was stressed. Miley and Jackson had walked in on him many times during moments such as the one Roxy was having right now. They would poke fun not knowing what had caused him to act that way. They had no way of knowing that he was not talking to himself, but to a figment of his imagination that still believed their mother was still alive.

Roxy had lost someone.

Taking a deep breath he knocked on her door and was not surprised to see it open quickly. Roxy was always alert and ready to jump into action if need be. She was always there to save the day and make sure those around her would not get hurt.

Robby Ray bit the inside of his lip. She had never failed them, but they had failed her. How could he not have noticed the signs. She was annoyingly overprotective, she was loyal to a fault and she was the only one in their family who truly knew how to hide. He shook his head at her and pulled her surprised self into another bear hug. She was no longer a mystery to him, instead she was cellophane. Just as see-through and easily torn.

She was stiff in his arms, not knowing why he was hugging her, but she let him anyway. She made no move to extricate herself from her situation, instead she just calmly waited for an explanation.

Finally he had let go and motioned for her to have a seat on her bed as he shut the door behind him and sunk into the desk chair.

She watched him with schooled features, knowing from experience how to not show emotion, but for some reason she could not shake the feeling that something had changed. The tension in the air was thick and the silence between them made it almost unbearable. So much so that she was glad when he finally spoke.

Robby Ray leaned forward. He was scared that she would get mad at him, and if he went about this the wrong way it was likely that she would. An angry Roxy was the equivalent of being hit with a 2x4 and knocked into an oncoming 18 wheeler. He would prefer it if that was not his consequence, but he would gladly accept it if it made her feel better. Sitting here now, he could see that Miley had been right. The woman hid it well, but she was depressed...and lonely.

Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth. "Roxy, I'm worried about you." Seeing no sigh of malice he went on. "I've come to realize that I don't know much about you other than what I've observed. I'm guessing that you lost someone who was really close to you, but am I wrong in assuming that this loss is only the tip of the iceberg?"

There it was. A shadow had crossed her face, but she didn't look angry. Instead she dipped her head almost as if she were ashamed. Robby had wondered for a split second why she would feel that way, when he realized that she was not ashamed by his question. Instead she shook. She was crying.

Roxy tried to hide her tears like she had done so many times before, but there was something in his voice. In the way he looked at her that made her want to open up to him, and let him into her life. Heck, she was already in theirs. She knew everything there was to know about them, but she was still alone. She was too afraid to let them in out of fear that they too would leave her.

She was tired of it. She was tired of having no one in her life that truly knew who she was. She wanted so much to tell him everything, to love them with everything she had. They were offering her a family. Sure they weren't her blood, hell, they didn't even look alike. What does that matter though. Her parents weren't blood either, but they did love her in their own way. Then she though to Robert. He would want her to be happy. He would want her to have a family again, no matter how unconventional. She felt the mattress shift next to her and a strong hand rub small circles on her back. That small motion made her crying subside slightly. Robby only did that to whom she now realized was family. She had seen the action in action time and again with Miley and occasionally with Jackson, Lilly and Oliver.

It was in that moment it truly dawned on her.

This was real.

She had a family.

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AN: I hope you enjoyed that. Please take a couple of more seconds to tell me what you think. Happy Fathers Day!!! 


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